


Until the End of the (Time)Line

by wilddragonflying



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Spoiler-ish, Time Travel, for everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-11
Updated: 2014-06-11
Packaged: 2018-02-04 05:13:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1766788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilddragonflying/pseuds/wilddragonflying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bucky is killed, Steve's offered a chance to fix everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Until the End of the (Time)Line

**Author's Note:**

> So, I played fast and loose with dates-- I was in a writing frenzy, and I think I'm close enough, maybe off by a year or so on whatever dates are mentioned. Blame buckyoubucky and handwritingofgod for this.
> 
> Also, I incorporated some elements of the comic canon(such as Professor X being born in 1937, so when Steve sends him the letter in 1944, he's young enough to be curious enough to keep it, and remember the dates and names.
> 
> Some things that Bucky living fixes:  
> -The JFK assassination. I never explicitly mention it, but I believe that JFK was still assassinated; however, without Bucky shooting him, Erik never has a chance to try to save him. So, he was like, poisoned or something. So Erik isn't in prison. The First Class stuff still happened, but now Days of Future Past is changed  
> -Bucky's arm. So, because these two never can really have anything nice, I think that Bucky allowed himself to be experimented on(Zola already did it, so he figured why not let Peggy and Howard's friends do it too), and he receives a similar, but not quite as strong, version of the serum Steve did. So when, on some other mission for the newly-formed SHIELD, he loses his arm(right arm, this time), Howard uses some of Zola's recovered notes and files to create Bucky's mechanical arm.  
> -FYI, Howard doesn't marry Peggy, and he still dies in a car crash; only this time, it really is an accident, not Bucky's sabotage. So Tony still becomes Iron Man.  
> -Bucky is still called the Winter Soldier, but only because he needed a codename, and after someone jokingly said that he was as cold as the ice Steve fell in, he was codenamed the Winter Soldier(Bucky's not saying whether or not he knows the reason behind why the agent who said that was found in a very... awkward and potentially dangerous situation).
> 
> I know this isn't very fleshed out, but I was typing like a fiend. I may go back at some later date and work on this a bit more, explain some more things.

"I'm sorry, Captain."

Steve stared down at the file Fury had just laid in front of him. It was labeled _Winter Soldier_ , and under the stamped "Classified" was a new, fresher stamp: "Deceased".

Steve slowly looked up. "How?" he asked, his voice hoarse with the tears that were quickly threatening to spill.

Fury, to his credit, looked contrite. "Clint. Barnes was losing control, losing his mind-- he started attacking random civilians unprovoked. When Clint went in to investigate, Barnes stalked and then attacked him. It was self-defense, and Clint got lucky-- or unlucky, considering we were hoping to bring him in alive."

Steve supposed he should be offended at Fury's words, or maybe angry that it was Clint-- a man Steve considered a friend-- who had killed Bucky, but all he could find was shock that Bucky was dead. Steve thought he'd been dead, before, and then learning he was alive-- it had been five years since the helicarriers. Five years chasing Bucky, only for Fury to get to him first, and for Bucky to completely break, to lose his mind, and be taken down like a rabid animal. "I need-- " Steve swallowed, tried again. "The body?" he asked, striving to keep calm, to treat this like any other comrade's death. But this wasn't. This was Bucky.

Fury's gaze softened fractionally. "Cremated. Except for the arm. Stark's got that, studying the tech. We couldn't destroy it, and we're not sure what it's made of."

Steve nodded. "The ashes, then?"

"That's why I came to you. They're yours to do what you want with."

Steve only offered Fury an empty smile.

***

Natasha found him a week later; she didn't ask what Steve had done with Bucky's ashes, and even if she had, Steve wouldn't have told her. What she said, however, shocked him. "I know someone who can help you get him back."

Steve stared at Natasha without speaking for several long moments. "How?" he finally asked, his voice strangled.

Natasha hesitated. "Have you ever heard of mutants?"

"You mean... Those people with extra powers?" There'd been quite a few blow-ups concerning them in the media intermittently, but nothing recent.

Natasha nodded. "I know one who can send you back in time, in a way. She might even be able to send you all the way back to when you were in the War."

Steve considered this. "It's risky, isn't it," he said, not asked. Natasha nodded anyway.

"There's no guarantee it can work, and she can't keep you back there for long. But I think she can do it, give you enough time to maybe change history, keep Bucky from ever falling. It's only a chance, and it's only the one-- you can't go back to a time you've already changed. So you'd have to choose what year you wanted to go back to, and choose carefully, because you can't go back past that point once you return."

Steve didn't hesitate; if there was even a chance that he could keep Bucky from falling, he'd take it. "I'll do it."

Natasha nodded. "Okay."

***

Steve and Natasha drove to another part of New York, to a place called Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Natasha was let in immediately by a woman with white hair and dark skin, who looked at Steve curiously before leading them down a hall to a study, where a man in a wheelchair was talking with another man who had... Well, an odd haircut, to say the least, and who was smoking a cigar. "Those're bad for you," Steve said out of habit-- he'd never been able to keep his mouth shut when Bucky smoked, and he still had a hard time doing it now.

The man snorted. "Jean couldn't tear me apart, doubt these will do any harm."

Before Steve could ask, the man in the wheelchair spoke. "Hush, Logan. Natalia-- Natasha, excuse me-- it's good to see you."

Natasha smiled and moved to kiss the old man on the cheek before withdrawing. "You too, Professor. I brought a friend."

The Professor-- this must be Charles Xavier, or 'Professor X'-- studied Natasha for a moment. "The man you want Kitty to send back," he said, his voice a murmur. Logan and the woman looked at the professor in confusion.

"She wants Kitty to do what, now?" the woman asked.

"Kitty has... Developed a new talent, as it were. Just as she can pass through objects, she can pass a person's conscience back in time, to that person's younger body. She's been working on that recently."

"How does Natasha know about it, though?" the woman asked, still clearly confused.

"Because I was one of the people she worked with, Storm," Natasha answered calmly. "And I wanted to see if she might be ready to send someone back further-- Steve's a good place to start, and he's got a reason to go back."

Professor X looked at Natasha sharply. "You want her to send him back over seventy years in the past?" he demanded.

"Yes," Natasha said simply. "Steve was unconscious for most of those seventy years-- she won't have as many memories to get past. I believe she can do it, from what I've heard."

Professor X studied Natasha for a moment, holding up a hand to quiet Logan and Storm. "Very well," he said finally. "I will ask Kitty if she wishes to try. If she does, then she can help you. If not, you _won't_ bring this up again, do you understand me?"

Natasha nodded. "Perfectly," she answered.

The professor nodded and then closed his eyes for a moment; when he opened them, he looked to Logan and Storm. "Kitty is on her way down here-- make sure we are not disturbed."

The two nodded and left the room, leaving Natasha, Steve, and Professor Xavier alone in an awkward silence that was eventually broken by a young girl entering the room. "You wanted to see me, Professor?"

Professor Xavier gestured to Natasha and Steve. "You remember Natasha?" When the girl-- Kitty, Steve assumed-- nodded, the professor continued, "She brought a friend-- his name is Steve Rogers."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Oh, Captain America? I remember seeing a bunch of old posters from the War in this one news article-- "

"Yes, he is Captain America," the professor cut in, his voice fond, but a touch impatient. "You know he was under ice for seventy years, and recently some events have led Natasha to the conclusion that the best way to fix a lot of current problems is for Steve to go back to the War-- back before his friend, Sargeant James Barnes, fell from the train."

Kitty's expression was uncertain. "Seventy years? That's a bit of a stretch."

Natasha spoke up. "He was unconscious for most of it-- at most, you'd be sending him back through a decade's worth of memories. And he has enhanced healing-- rather like Logan, only not quite as fast. I believe he can take it."

Kitty still looked uncertain, but she nodded. "I can try," she promised. "But I can't guarantee anything."

For the first time since Fury handed the file to Steve a week and a half ago, Steve smiled. "All I need is a chance," he said, his voice soft but firm. Just a chance, like Erskine had once given him. A chance to save Bucky.

***

Professor X had Steve lay down on a couch as he explained what was going to happen. "Kitty is going to send your conscienceness back in time, to your younger body. Whatever changes you make won't take effect until she brings you back-- she'll bring you back to this exact day, and then you'll see the effects of your changes. However, only you will remember the previous timeline. No one else will."

Steve nodded, shifting slightly on the couch. "Noted," he said. "I'm ready."

Professor X nodded to Kitty, who settled into the chair behind Steve's head. "This might sting," she warned. "I'm not very experienced."

Steve offered her a reassuring smile. "Believe me, I've felt worse."

"Maybe. Now, I need you to focus on a date-- keep that date firmly in your mind. I'll do the rest."

Steve took a breath, thinking of the date he wanted, and then nodded and closed his eyes.

***

It was almost as bad as when Steve had gone through Howard Stark's contraption to complete Erskie's experiment-- almost, but the thought that Steve was doing this to save Bucky kept it from overwhelming him. When the pain subsided and Steve opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a drab tent wall, the sounds of a stirring army camp drifting through the fabric. He pushed himself upright, glancing down at his body-- it seemed he was in the right time period, at least. He was back in the War, and post-serum. Now to make sure he was at the right date.

Steve quickly dressed, and when he stepped out, Dum Dum greeted him. "Mornin, Cap-- You ready to go nab Schmidt's little rat?"

Steve almost let out a sigh of relief-- almost. "Yes, Dugan, I am," he returned with a grin. "Let's get some good inside info for once." Dum Dum laughed and clapped Steve on the back, but Steve was distracted by an arm slinging itself around his shoulders. 

"Make sure you save some HYDRA agents for us, punk," Bucky grinned, and Steve felt like that grin stole the breath from his lungs-- here was Bucky, _his_ Bucky, living and breathing and joking with the men and touching Steve, and he was _real._ "Make sure you keep up with me, and you can take some out yourself," he shot back, a beat too late. Bucky didn't seem to notice, if his laugh was anything to go by. Bucky opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Morita. "Hey, lovebirds, we're ready to move out!" he called.

Bucky pulled a face. "Yeah, yeah, we're on it, Jim," he called back, and then grinned at Steve. "Really, when are they going to quit with the romance shit? Everyone knows we ain't like that."

Steve felt the all-too-familiar kick in the gut, the one that he'd get every time Bucky told him about some dame he'd spent time with, hit him again. Before he could even think of responding, though, Bucky had walked off. Giving himself a slight shake, Steve firmly reminded himself to focus-- he knew what was coming, and he had to keep Bucky safe.

But first, he had a message to send.

***

"Remember that time we went to Coney Island, and I made you ride the Cyclone?" Bucky asked, staring down at the giant ravine they had to cross by zipline.

"Yeah, and I threw up?" Steve answered, his gut churning just like it had that day.

"Yeah. This isn't payback, is it?"

Steve forced a small grin to his face. "Now why would I do that?" he asked. Before giving the order for the zipline to be strung, he pulled Bucky closer. "You stick with me, you hear? We don't get separated, no matter what."

Bucky looked at him a bit oddly, but nodded. "All right."

Steve nodded, and then gave the order. Once they were on the train, he made sure Bucky stayed right by his side, but when Bucky paused to let Steve through the door first, it slid shut just like it had the last time. "No!" Steve shouted, whirling-- Bucky's eyes were wide and surprised, and then Steve saw the other gunman come through the door. He signalled to Bucky, who threw himself to the side in time to dodge a bullet, and when Steve's own enemy came through the other end of his carriage, he didn't waste any time-- he attacked straight on with an all-out roar, taking the HYDRA agent out ruthlessly and efficiently. He managed to get the door between the carriages open, and then helped Bucky take out the other gunman-- and here was where things got dicey. Last time, Steve's enemy had blasted his shield out of his hand, and Bucky had taken it up, and then been blasted out the side of the train.

This time, Steve hauled Bucky through the door and into the next carriage, his shield gripped tightly in his own hand as he dragged Bucky along with him. "Steve, what the hell're you-- "

"Shut up," Steve snarled, adrenaline pumping through his veins. "I have to keep you safe."

Bucky must have been surprised by the vehemence in Steve's voice, because all he did was mutter, "That's my job, punk," before settling into position just behind and to the right of Steve. This time around, Steve made it through the train with Bucky behind him, and they took Zola into custody together.

***

That night, Bucky had drunk enough to get himself tipsy, and he was leaning heavily on Steve as they headed back to the hotel the SSR had arranged for them, laughing at anything he found remotely funny-- which was almost anything. Steve dropped Bucky onto his bed, the brunet bouncing when he hit the mattress. The giggles from that stopped abruptly when Steve turned to leave and head to his own room. "Wait," Bucky said, his voice breathless. Steve turned around to look at Bucky; he almost regretted it. Bucky was spread over the sheets, propped on his elbows with his legs spread obscenely. Realising he was blatantly checking Bucky out, Steve hastily dragged his gaze back to Bucky's face-- that wasn't much better. Bucky was licking his lips. "Wonder why I haven't seen you do that before," he murmured, and Steve looked at him, shocked, as Bucky added, "and how you never caught me looking at you." When Steve just continued to stand there, Bucky carefully got to his feet. "I did, you know," he began conversationally, stepping closer to Steve. "Look at you like you were just looking at me. Even when you were a skinny little punk who didn't weigh more than a large dog. I've always been looking, Steve."

Bucky was close enough to touch now, but Steve couldn't make his arms move. "You're-- You're drunk, Buck," he said, his voice hoarse. He wanted Bucky's words to be true, desperately so, but Bucky's mouth ran without his brain's imput when he was drunk.

"Tipsy," Bucky corrected, closing the distance between them. "Just enough to let me do this." Before Steve could comprehend Bucky's intentions, the brunet had reached up and tugged Steve down into a kiss. It wasn't dirty-- it was actually chaste. Even while part of Steve was cheering, rejoicing, and kissing back, the other part-- the part that grew up in early-1900s Brooklyn, wanted to pull back, wanted to stop this before it went too far, before it got one or both of them kicked out of the Army or worse. That part was rapidly being beaten back by the former, however, reminding him that people's attitudes changed, eventually. They'd only have to keep it quiet for a few decades-- and what was that, when they could be together?

Eventually, Bucky broke the kiss. When Steve opened his eyes and looked at Bucky, searching, he saw only anxiety, vulnerability, and... Something else he didn't want to name. So instead, he kissed Bucky, and gently pushed him back towards the bed.

***

Steve saved Bucky, and that was all that mattered-- so he should have gone back. But he hadn't, because now he was on the plane, and it was headed for New York, and Red Skull had just been sucked into some place by that cube that had then melted through the plane's floor, and-- 

"Steve, you goddamn idiot, land the fucking plane," Bucky begged, his voice crackling through the speakers and doing nothing to hide the fact that he was almost in tears.

"I can't," Steve answered, his voice just as rough. "I have to put her in the water, Buck. Lots of people will die if I don't."

"I don't care!" Bucky yelled. "Let them die! Just-- Just come back, Steve, _please_." The last word was choked out on a sob, and Steve felt his throat catch.

"I can't, Buck, you know that," he said. "Please. Just-- take care of yourself, and Peggy, and Howard. Make sure they get their heads knocked together."

That got a watery laugh. "Like Peggy would give Stark the time of day," he chuckled weakly. "Listen, Steve-- you come back, and when you do, we're going to Coney Island, okay?"

Steve knew what Bucky was doing-- the same thing Peggy had done, as Steve's time ran out and the ice approached faster and faster. "Yeah," he found himself agreeing. "We'll ride the Cyclone."

"Let's see if you can manage to keep your food in your stomach now," Bucky said.

Steve laughed. "Bet I'll do better than you." There was a pause, and Steve decided that if he was going under for seventy years again, he wasn't going without telling Bucky the most important thing he'd ever known. "Buck, listen to me-- don't you give up, okay? I know how you get, and don't you go locking yourself away, and drowning yourself in drinks and dames. You stick with Peggy and Howard, and the Commandos-- they'll keep you straight."

Bucky snorted at that. "You know I ain't exactly the 'straight and narrow' kind of guy, Steve."

The plane was almost at the ice now. "I know. Buck, listen, I lo--"

***

"Steve? _Steve?_ Steve, you goddamn punk, answer me!"

***

Steve woke to the sound of an alarm blaring, and someone's mumbled protests. The alarm was closer to him, and on instinct, Steve reached out to slap the snooze button. The other person-- who was pressed against Steve's chest-- hummed appreciatively and cuddled closer, and Steve let himself fall asleep once more.

The second time he woke, it was to Bucky's grinning face. "Rise and shine, Cap-- the Professor's here, wants to speak to you. Says it's something about the War." Bucky leaned in for a kiss, and Steve returned it readily.

It wasn't until after Bucky was walking away that he remembered-- he should be in the ice. "Buck!" he called; when Bucky looked back over his shoulder questioningly-- Steve's stomach almost dropped out of his body when he realized that one was still metal, the same design he remembered from before, only this time it was the right arm, not the left-- he asked, "What day is it?"

Bucky frowned. "Thought you had a perfect memory," he said, his voice teasing. Still, Bucky told him the date-- the same date he'd written in the letter to be delivered to the Xavier home mansion, to be given to Charles Francis Xavier, and the same date Natasha had brought him to the school. Except, he wasn't at the school, and he wasn't in the ice-- so what had happened?

Steve dressed quickly(he was completely nude, and if Bucky's kiss had already confirmed Steve's hopes, that did) before leaving the bedroom, following the sounds of voices down a hall and to what appeared to be a living room-- and apparently he was in some sort of skyscraper. Probably Stark Tower, judging by the advanced technology he could see. The professor was in his wheelchair, and Logan and Storm were with him. Natasha and Sam were seated on the couch, and Bucky was sitting on the loveseat. Steve settled in beside Bucky, and then the professor spoke. "In 1944, I received a letter from one Steven Grant Rogers. It told me that on this date, I was to find him, bring the people who are now in this room, and he would explain everything. So. This date has come, and obviously you know me-- and I know of you. Why did you ask me here?"

Steve took a deep breath, and then began to explain. No one interrupted him, and when he was done, everyone was staring at him with mixed expressions on their faces. He couldn't bear to look at anyone but the professor. "So I don't know anything that happened after I crashed that plane," he concluded. "Whatever life I've been living, that was my other conscienceness, I guess. For me, the timeline that feels real is the one where Bucky fell off of that train, and I thought he died."

The professor nodded thoughtfully. "It makes sense-- only at this date would the two timelines converge, where your first mind's memories ended."

None of the mutants, or anyone else, stayed long after that. Bucky was the only one who did, and he was pacing the living room like a man possessed. "So you don't remember anything?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral.

"Sort of? I remember the old timeline, and the new one-- up until I crashed, anyway. After that, I don't know what happened. I do remember that night in the hotel, though," he said, suddenly realizing what Bucky was afraid of.

Bucky's smile was tight. "That's why you were so adamant I stick with you, on that damned train. You went back to save me."

Steve nodded. "I never stopped loving you, before," he confessed. "When I was given the chance to save you, to keep you from becoming the Winter Soldier, I leaped at it."

Bucky shook his head, but not in a negative way, just confused. "So, I'm guessing you want a history lesson?"

Steve got to his feet and carefully approached Bucky, taking both of the other man's hands in his. "Yes," he said honestly, and then lifted one hand so that he could tilt Bucky's chin. "But that can wait. Feels like I've been waiting a lot longer than just several decades to see you again."

Bucky smiled at that, and Steve found himself relaxing as he realized-- they would be okay. No matter what, they were together, to the end of the line.


End file.
